7 Things That Went Right For The Chiefs On Saturday

Aug 17, 2014; Charlotte, NC, USA; Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Dwayne Bowe (82) flexes during warm ups before the game against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

MISSING STARTERS

Kansas City wasn’t playing at full strength, and that has to be considered when putting Saturday into context. Dwayne Bowe, Jamaal Charles, Donald Stephenson, Eric Berry, Joe Mays, and Mike DeVito, all projected starters, missed Saturday’s. Three of those players are expected to be ready in two weeks for the opener against Tennessee, and two of them will be around after their suspensions are over.

Offensively, Charles and Bowe are arguable the Chiefs two best players on offense. Charles is the best player on the team. On top of that the Chiefs purposely experimented with their offensive line by moving Jeff Allen to right tackle and rotating left guards. Name a team that can lose their best two players from their offense plus purposely create instability on their offensive line and still succeed at a high level?

It would be one thing if Charles, Bowe, Stephenson, Berry, and DeVito were all out of the season and never coming back but that wasn’t the case. This was a purposeful decision so the Chiefs could get a look at different people in different situations.

Had this been a regular season game (and suspensions had been served) at least Charles, Bowe, Stephenson, and DeVito would have been on the field. Berry might have been, too. All of those players change the complexion of the game and the way we look at Saturday night.